Sundance Film Festival Recap

When I say sun, you say dance. Sun! Sun

One word to describe Sundance. Fantastic. Special. Amazing. Moist. Sun Dance feels like home

Because it really centers that artistic spirit, that creative spirit that this place is all about

It's really nice to have a community that accepts my work and accepts me

Being here is insane and they're special. I've been crying all we. For me, it's all risk

All of these independent filmmakers, every editor, every actor is risking something when they

They make art and they present it to the world. We have been watching this still

That's why Sundance is so important. Come out and break down the stereotypes

Nobody tells the whole truth. All I ask is that they take their feet off our necks

Looks like someone has a crest. You didn't know. Formed crazy relationships at this festival

I hope to stay in touch with the rest of my life. You are awesome

Keep on pursuing the truth. You know you're an act. I've always been a big, good mother of the festival I follow it every year

I always just go for the good story. I want to do good stories, too. I really think we should take the show on the road

Sometimes it's been a 316 hub to my creative soul. For me, that's essential

In fairness cinema. Wow, standing all right. Welcome to AIPT's recap of the Sundance Film Festival

This year Sundance was probably the most unique one ever. It was a hybrid event

It was virtual, which is how we saw it. But it was also held in satellite theaters around the country

So this addition of Sundance was open to potentially more people than it ever has been before

We have a list of movies that we saw. We saw quite a number of movies

So we have a list of movies that really, stood out to us that we wanted to talk about today. So my name is Nathaniel Muir. I'm the movie editor at AIPT

and I'm joined by Regina, who is one of the movie contributors. How are you doing today, Regina

Good, thanks. So my first question would be, what did you think of the platform? Well, I've never

actually been to a physical film festival because of COVID when I was about to go to when it happened

But I think for Sundance, I think it was a really awesome way to go about this because you were able to see all these movies

And, I mean, there was just so much to see. There's a lot to juggle. And I think this kind of made that a little bit easier

And, I mean, the quality was very good viewing-wise. So, I mean, I have no complaints

It's a good experience. Yeah, it was a really easy experience. My only complaint, it has nothing to do with the platform that they use, is that

I didn't get to attend any of the events. And it wasn't because that they, I was locked out of them or anything or that I couldn't sign up for them

It's just it was so easy to see the movies that I kept seeing movie after movie

Whereas if it were physical, you would have to plan your day and go to the events and whatnot

So movie-wise, what was your favorite movie? I had a couple, but I think though when I kind of needed to see

it was probably how it ends just because it was so... It was such an interesting story, but it was also very funny, and I think we all could use some laughs right now, and it was a really fun watch

Directed by Darrell Wayne and Zoe Lister Jones. Zoe Lister Jones also stars in the film as Liza

She's a young woman living on her own, except she's accompanied by her inner child, which is little Liza

And that's just a, it's, it's quirky, and it's a fun idea, but it's actually like really moving

but it's about the end of the world. So everyone's getting ready to figure out

how to plan their last day on Earth. And it could be a very grim thing

But everyone's sort of like, well, it's happening. And they're just kind of figuring out how to go about their day

And I really appreciate sort of the absurd humor of it all

There's lots of really great cameos to Lomorne. What's his last name

From New Girl, Winston from New Girl, LeMorne. And there's Charlie Day and Glenn Howardton

And there's just a lot of- Colony Hanks and Olivia Wilde and Nick Crowell

Like how it ends is a really good movie. It's a really uplifting movie

I think some people will not like it because it does have an overarching plot

but it is a series of sketches, really. Series of meetings, series of encounters

The important thing to remember about how it ends, it's a very good movie. I thought it was a great movie

And everything you said is absolutely. true. While it doesn't directly deal with the pandemic, there's lots of shots of her walking

through Los Angeles, completely empty streets. Everyone's kind of secluded. So it does give you

that feel without directly addressing it. And the important thing to remember is the movie was

built out of Zoom improv sessions. Like it was just them, like Zoe Lister Jones and a bunch of friends

getting together, kind of messing around. And they made a movie out of it. And in parts of the movie

it's obvious that it was the same social distance and they weren't together and things like that but

yeah you're absolutely correct about the movie very uplifting very fun very silly absurd you know

there's the word you use a great word and yeah it is perfect for this time definitely perfect

for this time my favorite movie was the closer actually was uh judas and the black messiah

an excellent excellent movie um i believe they were they did the premiere

at Sundance in order to make it eligible for the Oscars. And, I mean, based on the performances and the story, I think we're going to be hearing a lot

about this movie in the next few weeks. Definitely. Lakeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluya, Daniel

Yes, Dominic Fishback. I mean, these were all, like, stellar performances. So, I mean, it's going to really, like, I think that's going to be all the Oscar buzz

Absolutely. It's coming to HBO Max. theaters on February the 12th, directed by Shaka King, this a beautifully beautiful hotel

It's about Fred Hampton, who was the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther

Party Ganga Kulah who I believe was nominated for Get Out If not then he definitely deserves one for this Because as you and I were watching it I asked you does he really sound like that

Because his voice, his inflection, his charisma, the magnetism, it's amazing what he does with the character

Yeah, I believe somewhere in the interviews you mentioned something about the cadence, like the way the Fred Hampton spoke was sort of

like poetry and it's kind of a point that's me in the film too and I think that's really great how

he conveyed that. And what I like about it, so I like a lot of things about it, but the title

Judas and the Black Messiah, it immediately makes you think that it's a story about two people

When in actuality, when you watch it and very minor spoiler, there's very little interaction between

the two, like direct interaction between the two. It's really a story of two people and two lives

and of course the movement in general and then the change in america um just an amazing movie all

around i mean jesse plemens has a part martin sheen is in it very good movie very topical movie

there's parts of it um much of it that still rings true today so it's a very powerful watch

and i think that not only will it get oscar buzz but it'll deservedly win a bunch of awards i feel

So both of us are horror fans. So of course we couldn't get away from horror

They actually have a whole section at Sundance devoted to horror genre films

They have a midnight section. So Sundance isn't necessarily known for their horror

but they've had stuff like Blair Witch come out of there. So I mean, horror is no stranger to Sundance

So we saw two in particular that I think we kind of had similar opinions on

The first one we saw was Eight for Silver. Yes, and that was directed by Sean Ellis

And so this is kind of a very original spin on the werewolf film

So, I mean, if you like werewolf movies and period pieces, this is definitely the film you're going to want to check out

It's interesting because it's very much a werewolf story. Like it has gypsies, it has a curse, it has the gothic atmosphere, the moody setting

it's set on the English countryside it's foggy like everything that you would expect

from a werewolf story it's there except the creature itself and it has all the gore

which is pretty great so I mean it's it's sort of almost beautiful

I would say and it's disgustingness it's really neat to because it does things

with the genre the things it does things that you would expect flips it on the head

So it's like watching this movie, it'll constantly surprise you. Constantly, it will surprise you

We stayed around for the Q&A afterwards because they show that afterwards. And Sean Ellis, his whole thing was he did not want to make a werewolf movie

He happened to bring in elements of it, and it's very noticeable in the move

But I think he did a very good job of making a non-wearwolf, werewolf movie

Yeah, definitely. It's a very, the creature is definitely very unique. And the film itself has a very distinct feel

So while it is like, you know, your monster movie fair, it is a, it's a different experience

And I think it sort of all blends together, like the mixing the folklore and time, the sensibilities of that time

It's just a really good story. So you mentioned the creature. You call it unique

Good or bad? What did you think of the creature? Good. You know, stuff of nightmares

Scary. Incredibly scary looking thing. I think I thought it kind of leaned towards the sci-fine kind of and it's inspiration

And I don't mean that in a bad way at all. It's wholly unique to this particular genre of horror

Yeah, definitely. I would say that, you know, I mean, it's a movie set like in, what, like the 1800s, that type of time era

But, you know, the monster itself feels very modern. and sort of futuristic in its design

Yeah, very much. So an excellent movie, and hopefully people will get a chance to see that one

The other one we saw is something that we've talked about. Now, neither of us, I'll put words in your mouth and correct me if I'm wrong, but neither of us are a fan of the rape and revenge movies of the 70s, the exploitation ones I spit it on your grave type of stuff

they are well known for you know very bad reasons but those movies are known

but yeah and there's a subgenre of them and they're awful but last year especially

it seemed like there was a new wave I guess a female revenge movies

they've been I would say very good very very good so we got to see one that debuted

or that screened at Sundance it's a Canadian movie violation. This was, I thought, and I don't know if you agreed with me entirely, I thought there were a lot of

nods. I don't want to call them homages, but there was a lot of nods too

Directly, I spit on your grave, actually. You really get that vibe in it, but told from a female's point of view, what did you think

of violation, knowing that you don't like the genre? You know what, violation, what I appreciate about the movies that have been coming out lately

hunted alone. These movies are kind of like are subverting the genre. What I like about the

female revenge movie is that these movies are actually focusing on the revenge. They are celebrating

the revenge and not so much like the let's watch rape for 30 minutes. It's more about like

the actual the focus is the vengeance and that's what we're getting here. So there's some very

interesting things done with this film with the character, whereas some films have been told

through the male gaze. This is completely through the female's gaze, through the victim's gaze

And some of the directing by Madeline Sims' fewer is pretty amazing, I would say

Like, you know, there's parts that are very kind of out of focus and blurry, and I think that's great

because it's sort of like this is what's happening. This is a catalyst, this is not what we're going to focus on

because the things that we do need to see are very vivid and they're very graphic

And that's what the film is supposed to be about. And I think it very differently tell a movie from one perspective versus the other perspective And that the perspective we should be watching stories from No absolutely You bring us a Madeline Simpson viewer plays the main character in violation

He's also directed with Dusty Manselli, so it was a dude to two directors for this film

You bring up a lot of good points. First of all, the, the fetishizing of the rape

In this movie, and again, mild spoiler, there's a rape scene. It's a sexual assault, but the way it's shot

It's not romantic. It's not sexy. It's actually done in a way that it's even really hard to tell what's going on

Now, in the context of the story, you do you know what it is? But if you were just walking by or if you just look at it, even knowing what's going on

you can't tell what it actually is. It's the context clues that let you know what's going on

So I really appreciated the way that that was done because while the act in it of itself was disgusting

it wasn't as viscerally as disgusting as stuff like Last House on the Left is

What I also appreciated about this movie, and you're not just a horror fan of recent years

You've watched movies from way back when. So one of the mainstays of horror is the objectification of women

This goes from how they dressed way before there was nudity back in the Hammer films

to up until the 80s when you would have, you know, A lot of times a fully nude woman being slaughtered by a fully clothed man

In violation, you get the exact inverse of that you have a fully clothed woman taking advantage of a completely naked man

And it's disgusting, like you said. It's brutal. But in a way, it's kind of satisfying, too

Yeah, definitely. I would say it is satisfying. And, I mean, it does turn it on its head, right

I mean, it is this whole, like, we grew up with these movies, right

Where it's like, it's almost like the punishment, right? You get naked, you're going to die

It's just like a logical stream of events in films, right? So same will the place here, just differently

Yeah, just so from a different point. So very well done. I thought it was a really good movie

I enjoyed it very much. It's flawed. Like, you know, it's not perfect, but it's absolutely enjoyable

Especially if you're a fan of horror, you'll absolutely love this movie. one of the movies that both of us were really looking forward to, and it was a documentary

and it was as much for personal reasons as it was for the story

So the topic itself, but at the ready, it's a documentary about Horizon High School

and specifically it's about the Criminal Justice Club there. Now, for those of you who aren't familiar with Horizon High School or El Paso, Texas

the reason that that's so important and interesting is the, the movie focuses on Mexican-American students at a high school that's about 10 miles from the

Mexican United States, Mexico United States border. First of all, I know you had lots of

expectations going into it as much personal as filmmaking-wise. What did you think of at the ready

in general? I think At the Ready brings up some very interesting discussion points that are very

relevant to the El Paso community. El Paso is right on the border. It's, um, the closest thing to it

is Juarez. You can get to Juarez in five minutes. Um, a lot of students come from Juarez daily to come to

school in El Paso. So having, you know, watching all these films, having been a teacher in Juarez

in El Paso, um, you do come up with these discussions that these, uh, so how do you feel about immigrants

crossing the border? How do you feel about, um, how do you feel about, the words that the administration throws out that kind of rhetoric

How do you feel when they demonize immigrants who are just trying to come over here

for a better life? And it's very interesting the kind of conversations you're going to have in that classroom

because you're going to be very surprised by some of the things that the students say

Obviously, some are for it, but you'd be, which is just like, which will surprise you

really. It'll always jar you. And then some are against. And I think this documentary does a very good job of just sort of bringing that those discussions, that mindset, and how impressionable students are, especially when you're looking for a career

When you grow up a certain way and you're looking for success. And, you know, it's about teachers' influence

And it's just about so many things. It's about education. And I just think it brings up a lot of very interesting

points about life on the border in general. Yeah, I thought it was really well done

Now, obviously, because where it shot, it did deal with border issues

Surprisingly to me, and this was a good thing. I like how it focused on three characters, and arguably it was more about family than it was about border issues

And I enjoyed that very much. I thought the three characters were awesome, even though I didn't always agree with some of the things they were saying

I thought they were really cool character, not characters. I thought they were really neat people

They were very interesting subjects. I enjoyed watching them live their lives and make their decisions and changes in their lives

I thought it was a really cool down-to-earth documentary. Also, a credit to the director, Macy Crow

Now, she talked about it afterwards. And I did an interview for her

It's up on the site. We live in a very partisan era. Very partisan

There isn't a thing. that you can do today that will not involve politics in some way

And this movie, even though it covers Bethel's run, it is a nonpartisan movie

At least I felt that it was. What did you think that also? I, you know, I thought so too

And it does deal with politics. It does show, you know, we do hear from Straderick

We do see Ted Cruz. You know, we see Vector O'Rourke, and we do see the politics happening

But at the same time, though, that's sort of like. creating the context. What we do focus on is these students and how they're trying to navigate

what they want to do with their lives after high school, how they interact with their family

And like you said, family is such a huge part of it. And it's about them trying to figure out

their priorities and what matters the most. And it's really interesting to see how some students

change what influences them growing up And then how as they start to become their own person how they take that who they are and still have to how do they become who they want to be and still be who their family knows

them to be? That makes any sense. No, absolutely. It's a real upcoming of age story

Definitely. So we saw a lot of things together, but we also had the opportunity to kind of go off on

our own and see things that we saw things by ourselves. So what were some of the things that you got a chance to see that really stood out to you

I saw some very interesting shorts. One of the one, I have a couple that stood out to me

There's a few actually. But one I really, really liked was BJ's mobile gift shop

And I just thought that one was so great. It was about a young Korean American and who is trying to make a living

And he makes a living out of his red suitcase that he wheels around. Chicago, and it's kind of amazing. Anything you could possibly want, if you forgot something at home

he has it, and he's going to sell you and sell it to you at full price, and it doesn't matter

because you need it, and he's got it. So it's the basic supply and demand principle, and

it's just very much, it's his job. He's the CFO, he's a CEO of his own company. He's

living his American dream. And it was just a very funny story directed by, um

Jason Park and it stars Johnny Boytellum and he's great in it

Like, he's so charismatic and the story is just so wonderful and heartwarming

It's also to do a lot with family as well. But it's also a lot about individuality and sort of like making your own path

So I thought that was interesting. Yeah, that one I saw when they released the lineup, partially because of Korean

but partially just because it sounded really cool. I wanted to get it to see that, but unfortunately

I didn't have the chance to see that one. I also saw another one called Bambarak

And this is about a father and daughter who are just in from Afghanistan

They're a new country trying to make their way. And the daughter decides she's going to stow away in her dad's delivery van

And he's got no choice but to kind of take her around with him on his first day at work

He's not happy with her. But as the day goes on, it's a really great story about fathers and daughters and sort of kind of like seeing

I mean, it's very relatable in a way everyone when they see like their parents outside the home

And they become like a whole new person to them. And same for parents looking at their kids

It's a very interesting story about sort of like learning who your family really is

It's heartwarming. It's a little bit sad. Being immigrants, they do face some discrimination

And it's kind of about that moment where you realize that maybe, maybe just your parents aren't going to have

back all the time. So it was a very interesting story. And I think it's one of the most

one of the more important stories that were told. Sounds good. That sounds really, really cool

I had an opportunity. There was a lot of documentaries. And that's lots of documentaries. So I want to

say it's one of the first things I saw, if not the first thing I saw, was Summer of Soul or when

the Revolution could not be televised, directed by Amir Thompson, who you might know is Questlove

from the roots. An excellent, excellent movie about the Harlem Cultural Festival that took place in 1969

It was a series of musical concerts that was recorded, but they never found distribution for the man

The documentary goes into it and they go into Hawaii. Just an excellent document

It's part of it's like a concert film. Like there's performances from, you know, a BB Hooker

Stephen King, Stevie Wonder is in a glad. a sign of the Pips, like just this

sign of the family stone, just this amazing stuff that you're seeing

The thing that really struck me about the documentary is literally the

opening seconds is they start playing footage that you can't see and there's a black man watching

it and they tell him like, do you remember this? And he starts looking at the footage

and this look of awe and amazement and you can see like the memories kind of flooding him and he gets

teary-eyed watching it. Immediately. You're like caught up in the moment and you're caught up in this feeling and this emotion. It goes into black fashion, music, trans. It's also taking place. The reason that this all took place was there was the 60s for, you know, all that they're known for, all the peace, love and hippie stuff that they're known for. There was also the assassinations of JFK, Malcolm Mex, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy. So by the time 1969 rolled around, people were worried that there was going to be, you know, fire in the

and there's riots all over the place. So the Harlem Cultural Fest was kind of a way that counter it

Amazing movie that I'm sure will be out there for everyone to see

The other thing that I saw, which I think might not be as easy to find

it's a movie called Pleasure by Niny Antenberg. And with the first time actress in it, Sophia Capelle

she plays a woman named Bella Cherry, who's come from Sweden to Los Angeles

do you become the, well, when she comes into L.A., they ask her for business or pleasure

She says for pleasure. She wants to become the biggest adult film star in the world

The cast is mainly porn stars, so they're used to improvisation. The film's the film that they do

So this movie has a very improvisational, naturalistic feel to it. The dialogue, it's very normal, and it almost seems unscripted at times because it just

It seems like people hanging out and talking just it's very normal, very free flowing

It is incredibly frank. It's very graphic. It's definitely not for everybody

But it's such a good story. It's in a way it is another coming of age story

It's dark in ways. And it deals with, you know, female empowerment, a very shady business, expectations, self-identity, all that stuff that you would figure

factors into it. Those are just some of the movies that we saw at the Sundance Film Festival

If you go up on the side, you'll see a review for all of the movies that we saw

They're all on there. There's interviews on there. Please check it out. And we will see you

for South by Southwest